The present invention relates to a disk drive unit, such as an optical disk drive unit, having a disk loading mechanism, and in particular to a disk drive unit comprising:
a housing having an opening in a wall thereof for inserting or removing a disk into or from the housing;
a disk drive accommodated in the housing and adapted to engage and rotate a disk around a drive axis in order to allow a head to read data from and/or write data on a disk; and
a loading mechanism for receiving a disk through the opening in the housing and bringing it into engagement with the disk drive, and vice versa, said loading mechanism comprising:
a tray which is movable with respect to the housing and the disk drive between a first position for receiving a disk and a second position allowing the disk drive to engage the disk.
Disk drive units having a disk loading mechanism are widely spread, particularly in audio, video and computer devices. Most of these devices are stationary devices. The disk loading mechanisms of these stationary devices include a slide in the form of a drawer having a first position projecting from the housing so as to enable a disk to be placed on the drawer, and a second position in which the drawer has been retracted to close the opening and to allow the disk drive to rotate the disk. An example of such a disk loading mechanism is disclosed in DE-A-34 43 070.
Another type of loading mechanism is known from JP 2001-222845. In this loading mechanism for a disk drive unit, the tray is rotatable about an axis in order to rotate the tray between a position within the housing and covering the opening and a position in which it projects from the housing. In this latter position, a disk can be placed onto the tray after which the tray may be rotated back into the housing. As the disk loading mechanisms as described are relatively fragile, these mechanisms are not very well suited for mobile applications, particularly in miniature devices. Then a tray of such a small device would be even more delicate, while there is also more risk of damage due to the transport and handling of such mobile devices, such as telephones and the like.